1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door window regulator which vertically moves and guides a door window glass of an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a door window regulator has an X-shaped arm made from steel sheet and is arranged such that a door window glass mounted on the upper end of the X-shaped arm is vertically moved by the pivoting of the X-shaped arm. The door window regulator employing such an X-shaped arm has a relatively large weight and a relatively large moving locus, which fact disadvantageously limits the range of available configurations and structures of the door.
In view of this fact, door window regulators have heretofore been proposed in which a wire is employed as a window glass driving means mainly from the viewpoint of reducing the weight of the apparatus.
Such conventional door window regulators include those shown in the specifications of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 69,684/1983, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53,911/1983 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,417. In these prior arts, a wire is stretched along a guide which is adapted for guiding the vertical movement of a window glass, and an intermediate portion of the wire is connected to the window glass. Further, a technique for securing a wire to a glass bracket has been disclosed in the specification of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6,843/1968. In this type of door window regulator, the connection between the wire and the window glass is so arranged that a hook which is secured to the wire is engaged with a housing portion formed on the window glass.
This structure, however, involves the following problem. Since the hook is secured to the wire by means of caulking, the outside diameter of the hook is not constant. For this reason, it is easy for a gap or play to be undesirably produced at the connection between the hook and the window glass. Such gap or play leads to generation of noise as the result of collision between the hook and the housing portion on the window glass when they move relative to each other by an amount corresponding to the gap at the time of starting the vertical movement of the window glass. If the size of the hook is increased for the purpose of eliminating the gap at the connection between the hook and the window glass, it may become impossible for the hook to engage with the housing portion on the window glass owing to dimensional tolerances in production.